Oscars 2019: India’s ‘Period. End of Sentence’ wins Best Documentary short film award

‘Period: End of Sentence’, an Indian short film based on the taboos around menstruation, has won an Oscar award in the category of Documentary Short Subject at the 91st Academy Awards ceremony. The story of the film revolves around women in Hapur belonging to northern India and their experience with pad machines installed in their village. The film ‘Period: End of Sentence’ features real ‘PadMan’ Arunachalam Muruganthan.

The 26-minute documentary is produced by Indian filmmaker Guneet Monga and co-produced by Sikhya Entertainment. Notably, they have earlier backed films such as ‘The Lunchbox’ and ‘Masaan’ too. The short film is created by The Pad Project, an organisation established by an inspired group of students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton. It is directed by award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker Rayka Zehtabachi.

Dedicating the award to her school, Berton said, “The project was born because her students in LA and people in India wanted to make a human rights difference”.

“I share this award with the Feminist Majority Foundation, the entire team and cast. I share this with the teachers and students around the worlds – a period should end a sentence, not a girl’s education,” she said.

When Rayka Zehtabachi went on the stage to receive the Oscar award, she said, “I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar.”

She added, “I’m not crying because I’m on my period or anything.”

“Guneet Monga – know that you have been empowering women all over the world to fight for menstrual equality,” Zehtabchi was quoted as saying to news agency IANS.

Taking to the microblogging site Twitter, Guneet Monga dedicated the Oscar award to every girl on this earth. She called all the women living on the planet as a goddess.

Check out her tweet below:

WE WON!!! To every girl on this earth… know that you are a goddess… if heavens are listening… look MA we put @sikhya on the map ❤️